Mowing Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing

[reggie717]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here it goes.

We are in the process of starting a company with the thought of doing small tract clearing, Brush mowing and mulching etc.... I have an opportunity to bid a large acreage of Pipeline / Utility ROW, and frankly am a bit overwhelmed thinking about it. It is for 4000 - 8000 acres and must be done in a six month period.

We Own a new Kubota SBVL 95-S2 HFC, 6' tree slasher rotary mower (up to 7" trees) and several other tools. will be purchasing a loftness or fecon mulcher this month. We also have a ZTR, 4x4 crew cab ATV and several chain saws and trimmers.

So first, I know we will need a Tractor with a 12' to 15' rotary or flail mower, but what other equipment might one need to be successful?

With 4 men, and the equipment above how many acres per day is reasonable under average terrain, some hills, some flat and a little steep.

any thoughts as to pricing per acre??

Thanks for any help, just a new guy trying to get into a different line of work, I am tired of chasing shutdowns in oil refineries.

 

[Fallon]

You need to figure out your operating costs. Fuel, insurance, maintnance, payments, repairs, hourly wages for you & your crew. If you don't have all that sorted out, you will more than likely end up paying more to do work for somebody than you are making from them.

 

[reggie717]

I have all those numbers pretty well sorted out. I was more curious as to industry averages of price per acre, I do understand each job can be vastly different thus cost is different. in that same vein I was wondering a good average of acres per day. There will be some weed trimmer cutting that has to happen, that is the reason for the extra men.

I don't want to leave money on the table, and sure don't want to lose my shirt.

 

[rustyshakelford]

With running a batwing, you can get 8-10 acres per hour depending on how fast you and run and obstacles. Are you bidding on maintaining the 4000-8000 of ROW or clearing them for a future line? If just maintenance, you could get a lot done with a couple armored up tractors and a big nasty batwing. Don't skimp on the underbelly and operator station shielding either along with foam in the tires and a winch. Depending on what you spec out some of those shredders are good for up to 4" and would be much faster than messing with a mulcher

Brett

 

[dougtrr2]

Sort of a side note, but I would check to see how the property owners on the route are notified. I have a pipeline that crosses my property and I refused access to a contractor until I was notified in writing by the pipeline company. I am very protective of my land and who I allow access. The contractor, who was very much small time operator, tried to tell me "All you have to do is call the pipeline company". My response was " I don't have to call anyone except the sheriff. " The whole situation was handled poorly. Just giving you a heads up of a problem that could delay you.

Doug in SW IA

 

[Rustyiron]

Reggie isn't a contract that size just a little too big of a "first bite"? I'm not discounting your skill's or abilities' but to miss the mark (pricing) on a job that big could be fatal, so price it HIGH. Better to loose this one but still be on their "vendor list" for the future. Good luck Reggie:thumbsup:
How does this contract have a 4000 acre range (4000 to 8000 ac.)?

 

[txdon]

I'm watching 2 large batwings mow a pipeline right of way. They went about 5 miles in a day. It looks like they went back and forth 4 times. They have to stop and open gates a lot making sure cows don't escape and then it rained and they had to shut down for two days so they would not put ruts in the owners field. How many miles of pipeline is the contract for? Will you have to find overnight accommodations for the crew?

 

[reggie717]

Yeah as I said I find the prospect a bit overwhelming, and most likely will continue on my job until I am better skilled in this. I have been working for about six months researching and slowly buying equipment, I work in refineries and honestly it is hard to walk away from the money I make doing it. But I want to work closer to home and own a business. I thought this may be a good opportunity as it has a six month window to do like 6000 acres.

But having a good idea of what can be done is in no way close to the knowledge of having done a thing....thus these posts. I really have no idea as to what companies pay per acre for a service such as this. I do have a pretty good idea of what it will cost per hour of machine time... Fuel, insurance, maintinance , wages taxes licenses...on and on.

I had figured averaging 6-8 acres an hour... Rustyshakleford says 8-10 above.....thanks Brett.

So if it is like 15 an acre... I'm losing based on the other requirements of the contract...hand mowing ... Side mowing as needed.. Signage upkeep....

I had read on o post somewhere that like in Alabama 42 to 45 an acre is about rate for ROW mowing. That seemed high to me...but I have nothing to compare it to as I Have no real acces to any verifiable info on the subject. Again...thus this post.

Thanks for all te replies fellas. Certainly appreciate them and any others that may come.

 

[reggie717]

Reggie isn't a contract that size just a little too big of a "first bite"? I'm not discounting your skill's or abilities' but to miss the mark (pricing) on a job that big could be fatal, so price it HIGH. Better to loose this one but still be on their "vendor list" for the future. Good luck Reggie:thumbsup:
How does this contract have a 4000 acre range (4000 to 8000 ac.)?

It is 6000.... I was not sure of acreage earlier but it is 6000 in three states....

 

[reggie717]

I'm watching 2 large batwings mow a pipeline right of way. They went about 5 miles in a day. It looks like they went back and forth 4 times. They have to stop and open gates a lot making sure cows don't escape and then it rained and they had to shut down for two days so they would not put ruts in the owners field. How many miles of pipeline is the contract for? Will you have to find overnight accommodations for the crew?

,


Not sure on mileage of row. It is 6000 acres. In three states so accommodations and food ect are one of the items I added to projection. I just used the GSA Per Diem table for meals and lodging to get a figure and calculated as a straight pass through cost

 

[RandyT]

Sort of a side note, but I would check to see how the property owners on the route are notified. I have a pipeline that crosses my property and I refused access to a contractor until I was notified in writing by the pipeline company. I am very protective of my land and who I allow access. The contractor, who was very much small time operator, tried to tell me "All you have to do is call the pipeline company". My response was " I don't have to call anyone except the sheriff. " The whole situation was handled poorly. Just giving you a heads up of a problem that could delay you.

Doug in SW IA

Just be careful of what you are doing when delaying operations on a legal right of way. I worked power line clearing years ago. And if you knew how many landowners were placed in the back seat of squad cars while we worked it would blow your mind. Once I identified myself, any interference or preventing entry to perform work could result in your being charged with a felony.

 

[rustyshakelford]

When I say 8-10, that's running 5-6.5 mph and just working it. Not taking into account gates or distractions, just running down the ROW

Good luck with the bid. I think having consistent hands will be one of your biggest challenges

Brett

 

[Alesandro]

Intersting

 

[jenkinsph]

Good luck with the bid. I think having consistent hands will be one of your biggest challenges

Brett

I agree^^^^^^ I use to do a lot of work for government and travelled away from home a lot. Working in the boon docks was fine for me. Employees can be extremely difficult to deal with in this scenario even at Davis Bacon scale wages.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Sort of a side note, but I would check to see how the property owners on the route are notified. I have a pipeline that crosses my property and I refused access to a contractor until I was notified in writing by the pipeline company. I am very protective of my land and who I allow access. The contractor, who was very much small time operator, tried to tell me "All you have to do is call the pipeline company". My response was " I don't have to call anyone except the sheriff. " The whole situation was handled poorly. Just giving you a heads up of a problem that could delay you.

Doug in SW IA

If I were the contractor, I would have called the sheriff myself. ROW permission is just that, you don't have to be notified in advance of anything. Any surface damage to your property might be paid for, but you cant refuse entry by the pipeline /electric/water etc company to suit your notion at the time or require written notification of entry. Yes, you could have called the sheriff but likely you would have been arrested, not the contractor. Legally, the ROW is no longer your property but has been leased to company xxxx, although most companies let the land owner use it for pasture, farming etc. but should they need to access it, any damage to crops is usually not recoverable by the lessee. The lease holder (company) has rights same as any other lease holder ( think apartment dweller)to freely access their property at anytime without prior notice.

 

[joeu235]

Sounds like a good opportunity. Do you know who your competitors are? Can you find out how much the are bidding the job for?

I do commercial maintenance work. I've learned that I can bid a job for what seems to me like I'm stealing money and the customer still feels like I'm under priced. Bid it high enough that you know you are making money and see what happens. Good advise I was given was to use the cost of renting a piece of equipment + hourly labor cost as the base line for cost.

Be aware that commercial work usually has Net 30 or Net 45 payment terms which can kill a small company if not planned for.

 

[Dadnatron]

Figure out the bid and get it before you purchase/lease your machines. The last thing you want is a purchase sitting idle because the bid went to a competitor.

 

[bigtiller]

,


Not sure on mileage of row. It is 6000 acres. In three states so accommodations and food ect are one of the items I added to projection. I just used the GSA Per Diem table for meals and lodging to get a figure and calculated as a straight pass through cost

If the pipeline Right of Way (ROW) is 66' wide, the 6000 acres will be 750 miles long.

Aren't pipelines usually narrower than 50' ? I have a water line ROW in my field that is 35' wide.

 

[txdon]

Big tiller, out here in Texas a ROW can have multiple pipes though it each with a 35' ROW. On my Dad's property he has 3 @ 35' wide each and one splits off and at the fence line so part of the ROW is (2) 70' and also (1) 35'. Before his fence line it is 105' wide.

Don' forget tractor maintenance you will have to change the oil about every 2-3 weeks, grease every week, air and fuel filters, and also any other repairs in the field and refueling in the field.
Don't forget to grease the mowers every day and sharpen blades as needed.
Check the tractor maintenance book for a more accurate list of thinks to do every week and don't forget to figure this in the bid.

Oh by the way, the 2 batwings that are mowing the pipeline ROW have now been siting for three days waiting for the ground to dry.

 

[bigtiller]

Okay, I understand, but even if it has multiple pipe easements and is 132' wide, that is still 375 miles long. 6000 acres is a lot of mowing. I'm just trying to help the op understand how much time he is thinking about committing to.

I know a guy that contracted for what he thought was a 20 hour mowing job and after 25 hours he was a little over halfway done. Luckily the company let him out of the contract.